Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that incumbent coalition government led by the PML-N is planning to abolish the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), pledging that his party would protect the scheme.
“It is unfortunate that the rulers want to end the Benazir Income Support Programme. We will save the Benazir Income Support Programme,” Bilawal said while addressing a public gathering in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Skardu.
He said the PPP would ensure an increase in BISP funding by discussing it with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the budget process.
The PPP chief’s remarks come amid reports that the PML-N-led federal government is considering changes to the scheme’s structure.
Last month, Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Kheal Das Kohistani said that the government was considering devolving the BISP programme to provinces.
Launched in 2008, BISP is Pakistan’s poverty alleviation and social safety programme, providing financial assistance to more than 10 million low-income families, particularly women.
In a conversation with reporters on May 8, Kohistani clarified that the complete abolition of the programme was not under consideration.
However, Bilawal warned against proposals to devolve the scheme to the provinces, saying handing BISP over to the provinces would amount to ending it.
“Across the world, these responsibilities are undertaken by the federal government,” he said during an election rally in Shigar on Monday.
During address, the PPP chief said the BISP had become a model that other countries sought to emulate.
According to Bilawal, his party’s politics differed from those of other political parties because of its focus on ordinary citizens’ welfare, crediting the PPP’s leadership with introducing welfare and empowerment measures for workers and farmers.
Bilawal said former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had made farmers owners of land and workers owners of mills, while former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had brought employment opportunities for the people.
Addressing GB’s constitutional and governance issues, Bilawal said granting the region powers similar to those provided under the 18th Amendment would help resolve many of its problems.
He also said the PPP leadership had introduced subsidies and reforms that benefited the people of the region.
Referring to the regional situation, Bilawal expressed hope that efforts by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for peace in the Middle East would succeed.
He said that every Pakistani was praying for CDF Munir’s efforts to bear fruit, adding that Pakistan’s peace initiatives were a matter of pride for the nation.
According to Bilawar, the Muslim world was bearing the burden of the Middle East war, which has contributed to economic difficulties for the public.